Casualties of War

The sustainability of our effort in Iraq is being questioned in part due to the toll that combat is taking on our forces. In this regard, it is useful to compare the Iraq War with previous American wars - the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War (for the Civil War, numbers are for both sides combined - Union plus Confederate).

Civil War World War I World War II Korea Vietnam Iraq

Duration (years) 4 1 ½ 3 ½ 3 7 4

Deaths 620,000 120,000 405,000 36,000 58,000 3,100

Wounded 350,000 200,000 670,000 103,000 153,000 23,000

Amputations 50,000 2,600 15,000 1,500 5,300 500

Of the 23,000 wounded in the Iraq War, 13,000 were returned to duty within 3 days. That statistic is not available for the other wars.

The sustainability of our effort in Iraq is being questioned in part due to the toll that combat is taking on our forces. In this regard, it is useful to compare the Iraq War with previous American wars - the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War (for the Civil War, numbers are for both sides combined - Union plus Confederate).

Civil War World War I World War II Korea Vietnam Iraq

Duration (years) 4 1 ½ 3 ½ 3 7 4

Deaths 620,000 120,000 405,000 36,000 58,000 3,100

Wounded 350,000 200,000 670,000 103,000 153,000 23,000

Amputations 50,000 2,600 15,000 1,500 5,300 500

Of the 23,000 wounded in the Iraq War, 13,000 were returned to duty within 3 days. That statistic is not available for the other wars.